Archived Summaries

Wednesday 22 August 2012
Market Close
  A reduction in demand and a more consistent level of supply saw the UK gas system run an average surplus of 6 MCM throughout the day yesterday.  With demand down to 166 MCM, strong LNG send-out from Milford Haven and a steady, if subdued contribution from Norwegian sources saw the system comfortably supplied.  Prompt prices eased somewhat following the sharp increases of Monday/Tuesday and remain some 10% above levels seen at the close of business on Friday last.  The day ahead contract alone recorded a gain of 0.30p but all remaining prompt prices were lower by 0.25 to 0.50p day-on-day.  On the futures market, the front month and October contracts recorded marginal gains but the front winter and summer 2013 contracts were down marginally as gas market fundamentals vied with oil market futures for direction on the day.  The oil market moved lower in the morning session with Brent shedding a dollar in early trading but a strong draw on U.S. crude stocks saw prices recover to settle higher day-on-day with Brent gaining 27 cents to close at $114.91.